News Tidbits

C-SPAN: Catholic Students Respond to HHS and Catholic Bishops on Contraception

Washington Post: White House seeks to soothe concerns over contraception rule

CNN: Santorum slams Romney on contraception mandate for rape victims

Washington Post: ‘God’ reference removed from Air Force office

Pink News: Ex-gays claim ‘illegal discrimination’ over flyers

Pink News: New York Rabbi Yehuda Levin: Cure gays with chemicals

American Independent: Bachmann backs Minnesota anti-gay marriage amendment, says same-sex marriage is like incest

Edge Boston: US Court Sides With CDC Over Fight With Counselor

The Cosmic Significance of the Mid-Atlantic Earthquake

On August 23rd, a magnitude 5.9 earthquake shook the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. The epicenter was believed to have been near Fredericksburg, VA, and the quake could be felt several states away. The earthquake damaged historical structures in Washington D.C., including the Washington Monument and the National Cathedral.

Some Religious Right figures are prone to attributing cosmic significance to natural disasters, even to the point of blaming disasters victims for their misfortune. As if on cue, several Religious Right voices claimed that this particular quake was a sign from God or a warning to America.

First, Pat Robertson claimed that the earthquake damage to the Washington Monument was "symbolic", much like the tear that appeared in the temple curtain when Jesus was crucified. On the August 25th edition of The 700 Club, Robertson had this to say at the 5:23 mark.

"Ladies and gentlemen I don’t want to get weird on this, so please take it for what it’s worth, but it seems to me the Washington Monument is a symbol of America’s power. It has been the symbol of our great nation. We look at that monument and we say this is one nation under God. Now there’s a crack in it, there’s a crack in it and it’s closed up. Is that a sign from the Lord? Is that something that has significance, or is it just result of an earthquake? You judge, but I just want to bring that to your attention. It seems to me symbolic. You know, when Jesus was crucified and when he died the curtain in the Temple was rent from top to bottom ... and there was a tear and it was extremely symbolic. Is this symbolic? You judge."

Second, New Apostolic Reformation preachers Mike and Cindy Jacobs created a video for Generals International on the significance of the earthquake. (Click here if you're having trouble viewing the video.)


08-24-2011 GI News from Generals International on Vimeo.


Mike and Cindy Jacobs talked about prophesy, prayer, and natural disasters as a message about God's will. At the 3:21 mark, Cindy Jacobs claims that God sends earthquakes to warn humanity, and that the damage of quakes can be mitigated through prayer.

"God is shaking, but why is he shaking? He's shaking not--you know, he doesn't want things to be destroyed. In fact, he tells us and he warns us through the prophets so that we can pray. What does prayer do? Prayer stops ... people really being hurt, or damaged. It mitigates against it, sometimes incompletely stop it, but does lessen what can happen."

I find the implications of this statement disturbing. How are people and structures not destroyed in natural disasters? Plenty of people pray during earthquakes, but fatalities still occur. Is this to say that structural damage and fatalities occur because of a lack of prayer?

2011 March for Life in Washington D.C. -- Part II

(To return to Part I, click here. To watch the March for Life rally on C-SPAN, click here.)

Brother Paul O'Donnell introduced Bobby Schindler, brother of the late Terri Schiavo. Schindler claimed that euthanasia was taking place in the U.S. and tried to link abortion with euthanasia.

"We are all at risk because there is deadly prejudice growing in our nation. Just like the countless number of unborn children that are being killed every day, those with profound brain injuries, the elderly and the chronically sick are also being deliberately killed right now as we speak. Every single one of us need to understand that the same people and the same organizations that are behind the abortion agenda are also responsible for untold number of persons being killed by euthanasia in our nation every single day. We need to fight against euthanasia with the same determination as we do to protect the unborn child."

Next, Father John Kowalczyk of the Orthodox Church of America introduced His Beatitude Metropolitan Jonah. Metropolitan Jonah told the audience that they were living in a time of "moral decay" and "decadence," which he attributed to "licentiousness of sexual morality," euthanasia, and abortion. Condemning abortion as an aspect of this "culture of death" and a supposed source of self-hatred and guilt for women, Metropolitan Jonah claimed that Christians provide the means to transform the culture through their message of repentance and forgiveness. Christians, he insisted, must find a means of sharing this message in a "culture that is intoxicated with its own pleasure."